scholarly journals Open-plan office noise is stressful: multimodal stress detection in a simulated work environment

2021 ◽  
pp. 1-17
Author(s):  
Elizabeth (Libby) J. Sander ◽  
Cecelia Marques ◽  
James Birt ◽  
Matthew Stead ◽  
Oliver Baumann
Keyword(s):  
Cognitive Task ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Negative Effects ◽  
Physiological Indicators ◽  
Workplace Stressors ◽  
Self Reports ◽  
Facial Expressions Of Emotion ◽  
Open Plan ◽  
And Performance ◽  
The Impact

Abstract The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-2019)-induced changes in the workplace present a timely opportunity for human resource management practitioners to consider and remediate the deleterious effects of noise, a commonly cited complaint of employees working in open-plan office (OPO) environments. While self-reports suggest that OPO noise is perceived as a stressor, there is little experimental research comprehensively investigating the effects of noise on employees in terms of their cognitive performance, physiological indicators of stress, and affect. Employing a simulated office setting, we compared the effects of a typical OPO auditory environment to a quieter private office auditory environment on a range of objective and subjective measures of well-being and performance. While OPO noise did not reduce immediate cognitive task performance compared to the quieter environment, it did reduce psychological well-being as evidenced by self-reports of mood, facial expressions of emotion, and physiological indicators of stress in the form of heartrate and skin conductivity. Our research highlights the importance of using a multimodal approach to assess the impact of workplace stressors such as noise. Such an approach will allow HR practitioners to make data-driven recommendations about the design and modification of workspaces to minimize negative effects and support employee well-being.

scholarly journals Veteran Status Matters! Life Course Perspectives on the Health and Well-Being of Aging Veterans

2020 ◽  
Vol 4 (Supplement_1) ◽  
pp. 636-636
Author(s):  
Avron Spiro
Keyword(s):  
Life Course ◽  
Vietnam Veterans ◽  
Military Service ◽  
Combat Veterans ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Veterans Health ◽  
Negative Effects ◽  
Veteran Status ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Health And Well Being

Abstract Military service during early life can result in exposure to traumatic events that can reverberate throughout life. Although much attention is focused on the negative effects of military service, many veterans report positive effects. These papers explore life course effects of military service on veterans’ health and well-being. Three used national US longitudinal cohorts (HRS, MIDUS); two sampled veterans from Oregon or from Korea. Three compared veterans to non-veterans; two examined veterans only. Cheng and colleagues found that veterans in HRS are more likely to be risk-averse than non-veterans. Risk aversion matters because it determines how people make decisions and predicts a wide array of health and economic outcomes. Kurth and colleagues examined Oregon veterans from several wars, finding PTSD symptoms were highest among Vietnam combat veterans, the oldest cohort; there were no differences among non-combat veterans. Piazza and colleagues examined in MIDUS the impact of veteran status on cortisol, a stress biomarker, finding older veterans more likely had non-normative patterns than did younger or non-veterans. Lee and colleagues studied patterns of mental health among Korean Vietnam veterans, identifying two patterns as ‘normal’ and ‘resilient’ encompassing half the sample; these veterans demonstrated positive outcomes of military service. Frochen and colleagues compared depression trajectories between veterans and non-veterans in HRS, finding veterans had less depression than non-veterans, but among veterans, trajectories varied based on extent of service. in sum, these papers demonstrate that military service can have positive as well as negative effects on veterans’ health and well-being in later life. Aging Veterans: Effects of Military Service across the Life Course Interest Group Sponsored Symposium.

Review of the impact Covid-19 has on the Psychosocial factors affecting Well-Being

2021 ◽  
pp. 3404-3408
Author(s):  
Sheila Menon FBSCH ◽  
Vidya Bhagat
Keyword(s):  
Psychosocial Factors ◽  
Health Workers ◽  
Public Awareness ◽  
Cost Effective ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Security Measures ◽  
Post Traumatic Stress ◽  
Negative Effects ◽  
Factors Affecting ◽  
The Impact

The COVID-19 pandemic has had a significant impact on the psychosocial factors that effect people globally. Particularly affected are children, students and health workers and the common symptoms identified are stress, anxiety disorders, depression and post-traumatic stress disorder. In addition, the various security measures implemented to ensure public safety have adversely affected relationships between people. This study directs public awareness to the value of psychotherapeutic support. Tele-therapy can be offered easily to people both at home or in the workplace, providing both cost effective and time sensitive solutions during times of crisis. The current review article provides an overview of the importance of maintaining psychological well-being during a pandemic and the identifies the role that empathetic communication has on wellbeing. The literature review was completed using electronic databases such as PubMed, Medline, and Scopus databases using the keywords covid-19, affected groups, affected relationships, psychology and its technological interventions, negative effects of pandemic so on.

scholarly journals Enhancing Employees’ Performance through Organizational Care Policies in the Health Care Context

2018 ◽  
Vol 7 (1) ◽  
pp. 5
Author(s):  
Andrea Tomo ◽  
Lucio Todisco
Keyword(s):  
Health Care ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Employee Motivation ◽  
Performance Outcomes ◽  
Monetary Incentives ◽  
Work Involvement ◽  
Health Care Context ◽  
And Performance ◽  
Conceptual Study ◽  
The Impact

Literature is increasingly recognizing that organizations must combine themes of care and concern with more established economic objectives. This conceptual study will expand on this literature by considering how expressions of organizational care toward employees, by improving their well-being, may influence their motivation, work involvement and, in turn, improve performance. In more detail, by extending the conceptual framework developed by Bonner & Sprinkle (2001), it is argued that managers should take into account the impact, not only of monetary and non-monetary incentives, but even of other caring policies, on employee motivation and performance outcomes. On this ground, this study develops a theoretical model on how organizational care may help employees in expressing their work potential and enhancing their performance. The model is developed within the health care context since its particular setting that strongly affects employees’ well-being.

scholarly journals Environmental noise, its types and effects on health

2021 ◽  
pp. 41-48
Keyword(s):  
New Technologies ◽  
Road Traffic ◽  
Human Life ◽  
Traffic Noise ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Environmental Noise ◽  
Road Traffic Noise ◽  
Negative Effects ◽  
Railway Traffic ◽  
The Impact

Noise can be defined as an undesirable sound that pollutes the environment. If noise is continuous and exceeds certain levels, negative effects on health can be observed. In recent years, the impact of environmental noise (road traffic noise, railway traffic noise, air traffic noise and industrial noise) on human health has come under increasingly intense scrutiny. Noise can cause a number of negative effects on health that directly or indirectly affect humans. The occurrence of some certain and harmful health effects drives the onset of others and may contribute to the development of various diseases. Health is not only a state of physical well-being, but also mental well-being. Mental health primarily depends on the quality of life, which can be affected by various environmental factors, such as noise. An important aspect of fighting noise is the most effective protection of the population by avoiding sources of noise and reducing it. This can be achieved by introducing new technical solutions and new technologies, including devices that generate less noise. Another important measure is educating the society and influencing the change of individual and collective behavior, which may contribute to reducing the harmful factor, which is noise in human life, and minimize the resulting negative effects on health.

Performance of Mid-Size Internationalized Indian Firms: Evaluating the Role of Family Control

2019 ◽  
Vol 9 (12) ◽  
pp. 387-400
Author(s):  
Faisal M Ahsan ◽  
Ajay Singal
Keyword(s):  
Multinational Firms ◽  
International Expansion ◽  
Negative Effects ◽  
Family Control ◽  
Listed Firms ◽  
And Performance ◽  
Performance Heterogeneity ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Degree Of Internationalization

The rapidly growing and gradual emergence of multinational firms from the Indian sub-continent now calls for thorough re-understandings of extant theories and existing ideologies of the ‘internationalization’ process. We would initially assess the three-stage model of internationalization in the context of mid-size Indian firms and intend to investigate the relationship between performance and degree of internationalization. Based on the longitudinal dataset (2005-12) of publicly listed firms, our findings suggested that mid-size firms remained stuck up in the first stage of internationalization and accordingly exhibit a downward-sloping relationship between internationalization’s degree and performance. Most of the mid-size firms continued to show a predominantly family-controlled stance, and the impact of family ownership shows negative effects on the degree of internationalization. By examining the performance heterogeneity in family-owned firms towards internationalization, this paper enriches the existing body of research and assume it to be a prolific addition in the literature on international expansion.

scholarly journals A Personalised Emotion-Based Model for Relaxation in Virtual Reality

2020 ◽  
Vol 10 (17) ◽  
pp. 6124
Author(s):  
Joris Heyse ◽  
Maria Torres Vega ◽  
Thomas De Jonge ◽  
Femke De Backere ◽  
Filip De Turck
Keyword(s):  
Virtual Reality ◽  
Emotional State ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Relaxation Therapy ◽  
Negative Effects ◽  
Emotion Model ◽  
Relaxation Exercises ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Reducing Stress ◽  
Personalised Therapy

One of the most frequent health problems is stress. It has been linked to negative effects on employee well-being in many occupations, and it is considered responsible for many physical and psychological problems. Traditional in-person relaxation therapy has proven to be effective in reducing stress. However, it has some drawbacks such as high cost, required infrastructure and the need for qualified trainers. Relaxation therapy in Virtual Reality (VR) tries to solve these problems. However, one aspect has received little attention, that is personalised therapy. Indeed, while many studies show the need for patient-tailored relaxation exercises, little existing work focuses on personalised VR content. One reason for this is the complexity of recognising emotions, which is required for emotion-based adaptive VR. In this work, a method for adapting VR content to the emotional state of the user is presented. This model has been applied in a VR relaxation therapy application, which adapts to the user’s emotional state utilising a heuristic optimiser. Simulations have proven the performance and usability of the emotion model. Additionally, this paper explores the impact of the order in which adaptations are performed on the effectiveness of the relaxation experience.

scholarly journals The impact of mindfulness‐based interventions on doctors’ well‐being and performance: A systematic review

2019 ◽  
Vol 54 (2) ◽  
pp. 138-149 ◽  
Author(s):  
Renée A. Scheepers ◽  
Helga Emke ◽  
Ronald M. Epstein ◽  
Kiki M. J. M. H. Lombarts
Keyword(s):  
Systematic Review ◽  
Well Being ◽  
And Performance ◽  
The Impact

Sexual behavior and sexual problems among patients with severe chronic psychoses

2003 ◽  
Vol 18 (2) ◽  
pp. 70-76 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michele Raja ◽  
Antonella Azzoni
Keyword(s):  
Sexual Behavior ◽  
High Frequency ◽  
Ad Hoc ◽  
Psychiatric Patients ◽  
Female Gender ◽  
Sexual Performance ◽  
Negative Effects ◽  
Sexually Transmitted ◽  
And Performance ◽  
The Impact

AbstractThe aim of the present study was to investigate sexual behavior in a population of psychiatric patients affected by schizophrenia, schizoaffective disorder or bipolar disorder by means of an ad hoc questionnaire designed to explore the three phases of the sexual response: desire (or interest), arousal, and performance. The study assessed patients’ attitude toward sexuality, several aspects of their sexual behavior, including patients’ awareness of the risk of sexually transmitted diseases (STD), contraceptive strategy preferred by patients, and sexual effects of psychotropic medication. Patients reported a high frequency of sexual dysfunction, in particular, hyposexuality. Schizophrenia diagnosis and female gender were associated with lower levels of sexual performance. The impact of psychotropic drugs on patients’ sexuality was significant, with both positive and negative effects. Although 65.8% of patients reported to be concerned about the risk of contracting infections during sexual intercourse, most of them engaged in sexual behavior at high risk for acquisition and transmission of STD. Patients’ compliance with contraceptive measures was poor.

scholarly journals An invasive foundation species enhances multifunctionality in a coastal ecosystem

2017 ◽  
Vol 114 (32) ◽  
pp. 8580-8585 ◽  
Author(s):  
Aaron P. Ramus ◽  
Brian R. Silliman ◽  
Mads S. Thomsen ◽  
Zachary T. Long
Keyword(s):  
Well Being ◽  
Coastal Ecosystem ◽  
Foundation Species ◽  
Ecosystem Functions ◽  
Positive Density ◽  
Negative Effects ◽  
Native Habitat ◽  
Southeastern Us ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Habitat Formers

While invasive species often threaten biodiversity and human well-being, their potential to enhance functioning by offsetting the loss of native habitat has rarely been considered. We manipulated the abundance of the nonnative, habitat-forming seaweed Gracilaria vermiculophylla in large plots (25 m2) on southeastern US intertidal landscapes to assess impacts on multiple ecosystem functions underlying coastal ecosystem services. We document that in the absence of native habitat formers, this invasion has an overall positive, density-dependent impact across a diverse set of ecosystem processes (e.g., abundance and richness of nursery taxa, flow attenuation). Manipulation of invader abundance revealed both thresholds and saturations in the provisioning of ecosystem functions. Taken together, these findings call into question the focus of traditional invasion research and management that assumes negative effects of nonnatives, and emphasize the need to consider context-dependence and integrative measurements when assessing the impact of an invader, including density dependence, multifunctionality, and the status of native habitat formers. This work supports discussion of the idea that where native foundation species have been lost, invasive habitat formers may be considered as sources of valuable ecosystem functions.

THE INFLUENCES OF FURNITURE ON CHILDREN’S HEALTH AND WELL-BEING AT PRIMARY SCHOOOL

2016 ◽  
Vol 78 (5) ◽  
Author(s):  
Mahkameh Valikhani ◽  
Rahinah Ibrahim ◽  
Mohd Shahrizal Dolah
Keyword(s):  
Primary Schools ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Children's Health ◽  
Children’S Health ◽  
Educational Systems ◽  
And Performance ◽  
School Furniture ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Considerable Body

Pre-schools and primary schools play a prominent role in the lives of children. In this phase of their life, reading and writing would begin. There are studies which explored the relationships between writing and reading performance and furniture in the classroom. A considerable body of research addresses the role of school furniture on children’s health. Nevertheless, the impact of furniture on behaviour received fairly insufficient attention in design and furniture industries. Since children have no choice in selecting their furniture, they ended becoming passive users in the design process. In this paper, we aim to understand the impacts that school furniture have on children’s health and performance. This paper reviews previous studies about children’s furniture at educational centers in order to introduce a new prototype of school furniture. This study could inform designers and those involved in children related educational systems to develop better furniture designs in schools.

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